Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point

About this web log

This blog is intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

About the author

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

Common sense considerations

The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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Information on research design, operational concepts, measurement tools, and methods of evaluation/analysis is vague, if provided.

Disagreement exists about the use of theoretical concepts and measurement/evaluation tools.

The evidence base is further divided between studies focusing on the ‘product’ versus the ‘process’ of art.

Shortcomings in dementia-specific research include:

Paucity of accounts from participants

Failure to extend therapies to individuals in the early stages

Lack of application to those living at home

Superficial attention to the meaningful aspects of doing art

The bottom line?

The authors concluded, “Strictly allopathic methodologies will continue to fall short of adequately evaluating what are deeply idiosyncratic psychosocial issues.”

Rather, the authors suggest, efforts should be directed to investigating subjective well-being, or ‘enrichment,’ rather than objectively measured biomedical approaches. This would expand the evidence base and help ensure that those with dementia receive the services they want.

It’s not clear how one measures what a patient with dementia “wants.” However, it’s suggested that efforts to minimize depression in residential aged care facilities is a formidable challenge but may improve quality of life and protect against dementia.

The biggest problem is that you’re asking people with an arts background to apply scientific method to their specialty. That’s almost as big a problem as asking a patient with dementia what they want for dinner.